Everyone wants the new TTC subway cars to be made in Canada. So why are Ottawa and city hall butting heads over them?

Hamilton Spectator

17-07-2025

All three levels of government agree that the badly needed new subway cars for Line 2 should be made in Canada, but the project to replace the TTC trains has been stalled for weeks over an apparent misunderstanding between city hall and Ottawa.
A letter obtained by the Star dated June 23, written by federal Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson to Mayor
Olivia Chow,
notes that it had become 'apparent' that both Toronto and the Ontario government were seeking to ensure the contract for the project would allow the cars to be built within the country, leaving the TTC to change its procurement plans.
'With the procurement of these subway trains, I am supportive of any action that accomplishes a build Canada option in a manner that is consistent with the city of Toronto's legal obligations,' the letter from Robertson to Chow reads.
'Should the (Toronto Transit Commission) decide to effect this change, I look forward to receiving the formal request on their proposed procurement approach as part of the TTC Baseline Funding Capital Plan as soon as possible.'
More than three weeks later, the federal government says it is still waiting for the TTC to act.
A federal government official with knowledge of the matter, speaking to the Star on the condition they not be named, said the minister's office had not received a response to the June 23 letter from city officials.
The mayor's office, however, says it needed approval from the federal government to change the procurement process to allow the 'buy Canadian' approach.
'The mayor has been in regular communication with both the provincial and federal ministers throughout this process and continues to work collaboratively with them,' said Shirven Rezvany, a spokesperson for the mayor. 'Any procurement process is a highly confidential TTC board process and cannot be discussed in detail.'
When reached for comment, Robertson's office would not discuss the contents of the June 23 letter, saying in a statement that the 'final decision regarding the procurement for TTC train cars rests entirely within the mandate of the TTC.'
Earlier in June, Chow had been enthusiastic about a made-in-Canada approach, saying at a press conference on June 17, that the city was waiting on Ottawa to 'exempt … the tendering process, so we can take the jobs to Thunder Bay.'
'We're waiting for federal government to give us the go-ahead,' Chow added.
The city has now received two requests from higher levels of government to ensure the
$2.3 billion for 55 new subway
cars for the Bloor-Danforth line are spent in Canada amid the economic uncertainty brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada.
'The moment we are in calls for action that protects Canadian workers,' Robertson wrote in his June 23 letter, asking for sourcing Canadian components and for the cars to be built in Canada.
In a letter to Chow in April
, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria went further, asking for the cars to be built at French train manufacturer Alstom's Thunder Bay plant.
The 55 new subway cars are meant to replace the current cars, which are expected to reach the end of their 30-year service life in 2026.
Line 2 has 400,000 daily boardings, and the risk of running trains past their service life was underscored
when the Scarborough RT derailed in September 2023
, with then TTC CEO Rick Leary
warning of similar problems if the Line 2 cars are not replaced
.
The new subway cars aren't expected to begin rolling out until 2030, and Percy previously said the TTC would undertake a 'light overhaul' of the current Line 2 cars to extend their service life in the interim.
The cost of the new subway cars required the city, the province and the federal government to each contribute a third of the cost. The province's third was secured as part of the Ford government's
'new deal' with Toronto
and the federal government sealed the deal with funding
announced on Nov. 29, 2024
.
At that announcement on November, representatives for both the federal and provincial governments said the new trains would be built in Thunder Bay.
The TTC's then interim CEO Greg Percy said at the November press conference that the contract for the subway cars would be open to bids from multiple companies, with a request for proposals that went out on Dec. 10.
The Thunder Bay factory, which was owned by Bombardier until Alstom took over the company's rail business in 2021, has filled previous orders for TTC subways and streetcars. In 2022 it lost out on
a major contract for new trains
for the province's Ontario Line project.